Waterproof, Louisiana Speed Traps

I got a ticket for going 8 miles over the speed limit – and yes this is a scam – nobody answers the phone, they sit at a location where the speed limit changes immediately from 65 to 50 and wait like the rats that they are! I am reaching out to the chief and I will be sharing the countless numbers of complaints against these thieves!
Louisiana: Federally Funded Speed Trap Busted for Corruption
Waterproof, Louisiana mayor and police chief arrested for corruption. The pair received federal grants to create speed traps.

Higginbotham, left, accepts USDA check
The mayor and police chief of a federally funded Louisiana speed trap town were arrested Wednesday on felony corruption charges. A Tensas Parish Grand Jury indicted Waterproof Mayor Bobby Higginbotham for felony theft, malfeasance in office, payroll fraud and using public funds for personal use. Waterproof Police Chief Miles Jenkins faces three felony counts for receiving bonuses for meeting traffic ticket quotas and altering traffic citations. The activities of both officials were fueled by federal taxpayer dollars.

In 2007, Higginbotham received $37,500 from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s Community Facilities Program for the purchase of two police cars fully equipped with the latest speed detection equipment. Higginbotham ordered Miles to use these vehicles to prey on State Highway 65 travelers as the speed limit dropped without warning to 45 MPH within the town limits.

“They have the nicest police cars in Louisiana,” one commenter on the National Motorists Association Speed Trap Exchange website observed. “However they are the most unprofessionally dressed cops I’ve ever seen.”

Even before the arrival of the new cruisers, Waterproof earned 37 percent of its budget from speeding tickets, according to a 2007 report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Higginbotham and Jenkins are out on bond awaiting trial. Louisiana State Police officials say the investigation into their activities is ongoing.

Speed limits all over town are excessively low on purpose; most roads are flat and straight and have no need for it. Cops do nothing much more (there is nothing much else to do) than write tickets all day long. Constant changes in speed limit signs will help you make a mistake and they got you!

Take a deep breath – if you were speeding he got ya. If you weren’t speeding you were selected or were driving into the invisible or obstructed 45mph signs.
Just take the ticket and go. If you have some cash the local NOLA PD will cut you a cash deal. Do not argue – it will cost you a seatbelt ticket. You don’t have to be speeding to get a ticket in Waterproof.

Cop sits on gravel road on west side of Hwy 65 BEFORE the speed limit changes. Then waits until you are in the town where the speed limit goes to 45 then to 35 and pulls you over for speeding in the 45.

Speed trap. Just paid ticket via phone. Clerk said the ticket would not be on your driving record or insurance. They are lining their pockets because they are not trying to improve the town.